Cornell & Diehl Redburn

The white and dark burleys provide a lot of earth, wood, and nuts, along with a little sharp, sour, savory roughness, light toast and spice with touches of molasses and cocoa as the lead components. The fermented red Virginia offers a lot of tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, vegetation, light vinegar, and a small spice note as a supporting player. The tart and tangy citrusy, bready, mildly toasty, grassy, lightly floral and acidic tart lemony, moderately sugary, sparkly bright Virginia is almost as potent as the red Va. The spicy, woody, earthy, herbal, floral, dryly sour, lightly nutty sweet dark fired Kentucky is a very noticeable condiment. The rich dark rum is more obvious than the lightly applied molasses topping as they mildly sublimate the tobaccos. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is a step behind that mark. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. There are a few small rough edges, though most of them are tamed by the toppings. Well balanced, complex and nuanced, it burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a mostly consistent tart and tangy sweet and dryly sour, savory, woody, nutty, spicy flavor that translates to the long lingering, pleasant after taste, and stronger room note. Not an all day smoke, but it’s certainly repeatable. Three and a half stars out of four.

-JimInks

I bought some Redburn a few weeks ago and have been smoking some of this in a cob. The tin note has a really sweet pungent smell to it but not in a really bad way. May be the rum and molasses not sure. It is a nice soft medium brown plug and crumbles easily. This is a fairly young tin dated 051618 and was still somewhat moist out of the tin. Smokes smooth and sweet but the flavoring is lighter smoking it than smelling it if you know what I mean. As some would say a really good Burley. Odd sounding name to me though.

This review is based on a 1 oz sample sent by a friend. The crumble kake is a dark brown and firmly pressed. I rubbed it out by the pinch, and the resulting loose tobacco was mostly thin ribbon with a few fish flakes. Moisture was good for smoking and did not require drying. The pouch note is a mild rum.

Smoked, this was very good. It burned a little slow. It has the body of a good burley blend with a some spice from the Kentucky. There are a few mild rum notes. There is a distinctive slightly woody taste that is pleasant. There is a little sweet from the Virginia, but it is not a bright or fruit flavor to me. This may be due to the molasses. Strength is on the medium end of the mild to medium.

This good and it is easy to recommend. It falls in the same category as Briar Fox. I could smoke it all day, but the cost per pound means I won't.

C&D- Redburn

A primarily burley based blend with some small amount of Virginia’s and Kentucky, there for depth more than flavor. Sitting on the porch this evening and decided to re-visit this one, I have not smoked it since first opening it in March 2019.

My memory still serves me well, until I go looking for my wallet or car keys and I did not care for this blend when first trying it. The rum topping was to sharp and I didn’t understand the components well enough. Upon opening it originally this blend was slightly damp.

This evening that’s changed, the burley is nutty and I’ve found c&d excels with burley based blends. This crumbles apart easily and packs easily also. His blend has dried well, and the topping is still present but not as sharp and is a welcome little sliver of flavor atop the nutty burley.

If I was still sailing the high seas I’d like to think this would be a blend I’d enjoy, it’s everything a Sailor wants, boozy rum, sweet molasses and just enough nicotine to get you through your watch rotation.

This stuff burns quickly but never gets hot, nor is it tongue bite inducing if respected.

3/4 stars

I was expecting a bit more sweetness as I get honey from the tin note. This tobacco burns well and not having explored many tobacco cuts I find the cake an interesting experience to utilize vs the ribbon I've used exclusively in the past. The spice of the Kentucky is clearly present as is the nutty flavor of the burley, I don't get much Virginia in the blend or sweetness. Overall a pretty easy smoking blend to enjoy. I revised from 2 stars up to three as this dried out a bit and some of the topping disipated over a few months.

Presentation: A eye pleasing crumble cake with mostly medium brown ribbon, and a few golds and darker portions speckled throughout compressed into a semi dense block. The same form factor as Black Frigate, Blockade Runner, etc. Tears apart easily and it fluffs out into a generous amount of tobacco. Grab less than you think you need.

Palate: Tin aroma is burley throughout with hints of the bright and red Virginia. The topping provides a brown sugar note and the rum is applied moderately. The main portion of burleys provides a nice semi sweet chocolate and molasses flavor that is also a bit nutty and dry. The Virginias are a nice addition to the natural flavors of burley and provide a nice earthy glaze on top. The dark fired is represented well in this cake, adding just a touch of spice when you need it and not overdone. The perfect amount to keep your taste buds interested.

Performance: Burns quite fast due to the nature of the cake. Essentially it's fine ribbons compressed, and it rubs out into smaller ribbons. You can either prepare this in small chunks slightly broken or fully turn it into it's each individual components. Either way, it burns with no effort applied to the draw. However, if you do decide to rub it out fully, be sure to leave a few thicker chunks at the bottom, as the smaller pieces can interrupt your airflow by being lodged in the shank. Medium nicotine hit. Not an all day smoke but certainly able to repeat it.

Conclusion: I'm a sucker for plugs, cakes and flakes and it's no doubt that I wanted this. This is like the Captain Morgan of tobaccos. It's a little sweet with the molasses and rum topping and a little spicy with the addition of dark fired burley. I prefer smoking this in the late autumn and early winter as it has a warming quality to it, just like a nice adult spirit. Opening a fresh tin the burleys are quite dry in taste and it's hard to detect the Virginias. I've had the remaining portion of this cake jarred for a year and it has turned into a pretty great blend. The rum has tapered off and the sweet chocolate flavors of the burleys have intensified. The dark fired burley hasn't changed that much but the Virginias have given the blend a nice toasty bread note as well. I'm not sure if I will buy this blend again even though I quite enjoyed it. Another tin might possibly end up in my cellar, but not anytime soon.

I've found that I really enjoy the Krumble Kake's from C&D. To me this one is a burley forward blend with just a little sweetness from the Rum on top. The VA and KY add some sweet and dark notes and it packs a bigger nic hit than you'd expect. My tin was 7 months old and I found the moisture content to be perfect to light up without drying.

It's not a blend to me that goes "Smoke me all day" due to that nic hit but I really enjoy it in the evening in my smaller pipes.

3rdguy

Just finished my tin. I am a sucker for anything plug or cake form. Burley drives the bus with the KY and Virginia showing up very little. My tin came bone dry. Zero moisture to it and the tin was just 6 months old from Smoking Pipes. Rum was readily apparent in the tin note and it actually did translate a bit into the actual smoke. Decent smoke, obviously burned without issue as dry as it was. No bite. Nothing bad to report really but nothing great either. I love burley and C&D blends some great ones so I will pick a tin up at some point down the road to address the dryness issue.

At first, my initial impressions of this tobacco were mixed. The tin note is sour and pungent in a way that promises the rum topping is prominent. Other scents remind one of wet hay and an earthy sweetness, likely due to the conservative topping of molasses added. That is all to the good, but I then found my cake did not have the moistness other reviewers described; on the contrary, given the casings added, it felt dry and took some meager effort to rub out to my liking. The result did issue cause for hope, however: the tobaccos looked healthy and of quality, with a good mixture of burleys and virginias. In feel and coloration, it reminded me of another famous Cornell & Diehl burley cake, Briar Fox. I would later discover this resemblance was more than just surface-level, for it tasted like the old fox as well.

The tobacco lights easily and cleanly, making relights uncommon and tongue bite a remote concern at best. Even so, the first fifth of the bowl or so had an ashen flavor, and for a time, the promises of rum and molasses felt far and away. Patience is rewarded with this blend, however, and I found that both of these flavors do showcase themselves, but subtly and quietly. For those who prefer that their burley tobaccos that are aromatics to err on the side of caution (that is to say, to not let the casings sublimate the tobaccos), this is welcome news indeed. Even so, I could not help but feel the casing could just be a hint stronger. Not much, mind you; but enough were that occasional lingering sweetness and boozy tingling played on the taste buds a bit more so.

The blend really shows its best at mid-bowl. The natural earthiness and woodiness of the burleys become apparent, and the hay-like sweetness of the virginias offer the proper accompaniment. When the molasses and rum play their notes in tandem with the tobaccos, it is a wonderful, old world medley. When they don't, it is still a solid but forgettable burley/virginia blend that reminds one of Prince Albert or other so-called codger blends, albeit a bit more quality.

That all being said, things work far more often than not, and I found my subsequent smokes went a little smoother and showed remarkable consistency. If you are a burley fan, this is well-worth a try, and may even earn a place in a full-time rotation. For others, it will be worth trying in a sampler or on sale.